Drum Studio: Acoustically treated my drum room using DIY Rockwool Panels & some high density acoustic foam. Can call it a drum studio now haha!

Supplies

Tools

Drill Machine
Angle Grinder
Screwdriver
Measuring Tape
Staple Gun

Material

Rockwool ProRox SL 950 (Thickness- 50mm, Density- 80 kg/cu.m) X 2 Packs (16 Sheets)
Pine Wood 1.5" X 2" & 1.5" X 4"
Aluminium Profile 1.5" X 1"
Cloth Fabric (any cloth that allows air & sound to pass)
Steel Angle Brackets 2.5" & 4"
Acoustic Foam (Density: 40kg/m3 to 50kg/m3)
Bass Traps (Density: 50kg/m3)
Steel Screws

Miscellaneous

Eye & Ear Protection
Work Gloves
Spray Paint
Acoustic Foam Adhesive (Spray)

Step 1: Soundproofing OR Sound Treatment

So there are two things that you can do with a drum studio -

Soundproofing
Sound Treatment

Soundproofing is all about sound isolation and has nothing to do with treating the acoustics in a room. The objective of soundproofing techniques is to make the room “quieter”. Sound treatment, on the other hand, is a way to make better-sounding recordings inside a room by controlling sound reflections. The goal of sound treatment is to make the room “sound better”. (More on it here)

Since I already have thick concrete & brick walls with not many neighbours around, sound proofing is not required for me, so I opted for Sound Treatment to make my Drum Studio sound better for recording sessions. (however if you live in a noisy neighbourhood I'd recommend Soundproofing as well, you wouldn't want outside noise getting recorded in you sessions!)

Step 2: Planning!

So in this step you need to visualise how you want your Drum Studio to look like! Time to be as creative as you can 😉

I also used ChatGPT to get some advise as I am no professional acoustician!

You need to determine your first reflection points ( that is the place where the sound from the drums is going to hit first), you are going to want to add panels there. For me I already had a huge wooden wardrobe on one side & a window on the other so I decided to leave them as is & treat the wall behind me & the one in front of me. Check out this short yet insightful video from GIK Acoustics regarding the First Reflection Points.

I used a tool from GIK Acoustics called the Room Acoustics Visualizer.

I have attached a video of how my initial plan!

DIY Drum Studio - Step #2
Download

Step 3: Building the Wooden Frames of the Acoustic Panels

The fun part!

At first we need a wooden frame inside which we are going to put our Rockwool in. I went to the local Timber yard to source some Pine Wood, it is very light as compared to other types of wood (we don't want heavy panels falling on our heads, do we now?)

I got four 13 Feet long Pine Wood Lumbars which were 2" thick & about 10" wide. Since I did not have a bench saw I asked a carpenter to make the frames for me. I gave them a piece of Rockwool Sheet to build a frame around it. Different kinds of Rockwool come in different sizes so it is best to build the first frame around the Rockwool Sheet that you have.

I gave the frames a nice finishing using an Angle Grinder once I got them home.

All in all I wanted fourteen Rockwool Panels, twelve of them were 2" thick & two were 4" thick to act as Bass Traps ( I added two layer of Rockwool sheets instead of one).

Step 4: Covering the Frame With a Cloth

Staple Staple Staple

Next we will put cloth on the front side of the panel. The cloth you use in very important for the panels being effective. If you use a cloth that doesn't allow sound to enter i.e: it reflects it back, then your panel acts as a diffuser & won't absorb any sound (no, we do not want that). A very easy way to check is to put the cloth on your mouth & try and blow air through it, if air travels easily, so will sound!

I wanted to add some colour to my drum room so I went for three bright colours: Dark Blue, Magenta & Rainbow ( all 100% cotton). My mom helped me sew the blue & magenta together to get a nice 1:1 pattern (thanks mom).

So to cover the frames put the cloth on a flat surface (face down) & align the frame on top. Start with stapling one side, make sure to stretch the fabric as much as possible (without deforming the pattern if any) when you staple it on the other side. Try to make the corners as clean as you can.

I would recommend a pneumatic staple gun as a manual one just kills you from all that labour 🥲

Step 5: Putting the Rockwool in & Closing It Up

Use protective equipment while handling Rockwool. A facemark & work gloves are strongly recommended.

Next up we put the Rockwool sheet inside the frame & cover up the backside with another cloth. #morestaples

After finishing this down, gently hammer over the staples to get those half-in staples & to get a smooth surface.

Not much to this step just make sure to not let the Rockwool touch your skin, it may cause irritation.

Step 6: Mount the Rockwool Panels

Now there is a trick to it!

Now we are going to put our finished Rockwool Panels on the wall.

I like to keep an air gap in between the wall & panels.

So why an air gap & why not mount it flush to the wall?

By having an air gap increases the ability of the panel to absorb sound, it nearly doubles it! So a 2" thick panel with an air gap will perform the same as a 4" thick panel mounted flush with the wall, meaning the air behind it acts as part of the panel in itself allowing us to use less material & get double the result, Crazy right?

Let me show you something now - Acoustic Modelling! This tool allows you to compare panel thickness & see how effective the panel will be with & without an air gap!

I have air gaps on all my panels, my 2" panels having an air gap of 1.5" & my 4" panels having an air gap of 3".

So how did I mount the panels?

I used Steel Angle Brackets! For my 2" panels I used a 2.5" bracket which gives me about 2" of air gap & for my 4" panels I used a 4" Bracket, giving me an air gap of 3.5".
Four brackets to mount the lighter 2" thick panels & eight brackets to mount the much heavier 4" thick panels. I used a block of wood as template to keep the air gap uniform across all sides & panels.

Since the walls are made up of brick & concrete I used a Masonry Bit on the drill having to use the hammer mode on areas with concrete. I then put plastic sleeves in the holes & screwed the brackets in.

Step 7: Adding Acoustic Foam & Bass Traps

Foam Foam Foam

Next Up I glued the acoustic foam using an aerosol based adhesive which I can just spray on the backside, plus it cures instantly! I determined various patterns on how to place the acoustic foam. Having a iced pattern allows in absorption of sounds of various frequencies, so mix it up a little!

I used some command strips to check various patterns before glueing them with the spray adhesive.

Step 8: Overhead Panels?

The Most Interesting Part!

I know I should have worked on the overhead panels at the beginning but it took me a lot of time to figure out the engineering behind the mounting mechanism. I couldn't drill in the concrete ceiling so I had to improvise & place the acoustic panels on the corner where the wall meets the ceiling!

I used some angle brackets & aluminium profiles to make a mounting mechanism which allows me to hang my heavy panels (13 Pounds each!) safely & securely at a height of 10 Feet at a 45° angle!

I used Nylon Nuts for better safety here.

What say?

Step 9: More Foam???

Why so much foam?

Even after all that, most of the ceiling was untreated & would have added to the echo of the room, so I ordered four sheets of acoustic foam of 6X3, 2" thickness & ofc high density!

Figured put the pattern by placing it on the floor & got to glueing it up on the ceiling!